Readerware Loan Client Import Wizard

The Readerware Loan Client can import borrower information from other databases and programs.

Readerware can import:

CSV or Comma Separated Value files - These files contain the data for each database column separated by a comma. The first line of the file is a mapping line which allows you to map the data to Readerware database column names.

TAB Delimited Files - These are similar to CSV files except that the data is separated by the tab character. Again the first line of the file is a mapping line which allows you to map the data to Readerware database column names.

Mapping data for import into Readerware

A CSV or TAB delimited file is organized much like a spreadsheet. Each record in the file is a row in the spreadsheet. Each record contains the data for each column in that row.

Here is an example of a CSV file:

"BRWR_FNAME","BRWR_LNAME","BRWR_ID"
"John","Doe","10023"

The problem is how does Readerware know what order the columns are in? The mapping line is key to importing data into Readerware. The first row of the file is the mapping line and it identifies which Readerware database columns the data should be imported into. This is a common technique used with CSV and TAB delimited files, your file may already have a mapping line as the first line of the file. or it may just contain the data. You need to open the file using a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit. Look at the first line. If there is a mapping line, you need to change the column names to match the Readerware column names. If it is not there, you need to add the line.

If there are columns in the file you do not want to import into Readerware you can use a column name of "Junk". Any column name that Readerware does not recognize will be skipped.

Readerware Column Names

Use the following table to build the mapping line.

Column Name	Contents
Readerware Column Names
BRWR_FNAME	Borrower first name
BRWR_LNAME	Borrower last name
BRWR_ID	Borrower ID
BRWR_STATUS	Borrower status, Active, Inactive or Banned
BRWR_EMAIL	E-Mail address
BRWR_PHONE1	Phone number
BRWR_PHONE2	Phone number
BRWR_FAX	Fax number
BRWR_ORG	Organization
BRWR_ADDR1	Address line 1
BRWR_ADDR2	Address line 2
BRWR_CITY	City
BRWR_STATE	State, province, territory etc.
BRWR_ZIP	Zip or postal code

Importing

These are the basic steps:

Indicate the format of the file you are going to import
Select the file
Run the Readerware import
Check the results

Format Selection

This is the first page of the Readerware import wizard. The first step is to select which format the file you are importing is in. Your choices are CSV, (Comma Separated Value) or TAB delimited. See above for more information on the file formats.

Duplicate Handling

By default Readerware adds all the borrowers in the imported file to the database. You can select to replace duplicate borrowers rather than add them.

Readerware uses the Borrower ID field to detect duplicates. If the replace option is checked and the borrower ID already exists in the database, the borrower record is replaced with the imported data.

File Selection

You need to tell Readerware the name of the file you wish to import and where it is located. Click on the Browse button and select the file using the standard file selection dialog.

For TAB delimited and CSV files you can also select the file encoding. You are importing data from another program into Readerware. It is important that Readerware uses the correct encoding when reading the file. If there is a mismatch then data may not transfer correctly.

Automatic detection - In most cases Readerware can determine the encoding by examining the file. This is the default selection and you should normally use this and only specify an explicit encoding if there is a problem.
ANSI - This is your system encoding and is the default. It will work for databases that contain the system language.
Unicode (little endian) - Unicode is a double byte character set and can handle virtually any language and any combination of languages. Little endian is used on Intel systems.
Unicode (big endian) - Unicode is a double byte character set and can handle virtually any language and any combination of languages. Big endian is used on other systems like PPC.
UTF-8 - UTF-8 is a variable width encoding and can handle all characters in the Unicode character set. It has become popular as you don't need to worry about endianness.

In general you should use automatic detection. If Readerware is unable to determine the encoding used, you can select the correct encoding from the list.

Verification Page

Next up is the verification page. This is your last chance to change your settings prior to running Readerware import. A quick summary of your choices is listed. Click on Next> if you are ready to go. Click on Back if you want to change your choices.

Import Running Page

When you reach this page, your Readerware import is running. You will see a progress bar that will update as Readerware imports the data from the file.

When the import completes, click on the Next button to proceed to the final page of this wizard.

Import Completed Page

This page displays the overall import statistics:

Borrowers Processed - The number of borrowers in the imported file
Errors - The number of borrowers that could not be imported.

When you are done, click the Finish button to exit the import wizard.

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